Mephorash – Krystl​-​Ah (Review)

This is the fifth album from Swedish black metallers Mephorash.

It has been four long years since 2019’s colossal Shem Ha Mephorash first graced the world with its infernal presence, and we’re now due a new emanation from this esoteric act. Behold Krystl-Ah! Yes, Mephorash have gifted us with 67 minutes of new material, and once again, Mephorash have created an impressive album that’s absolutely huge in more ways than one.

Mephorash have continued to develop and progress their sound, walking further along a path that they are forging through the blackened underworld. Continuing directly on from their previous album, Mephorash subvert and corrupt this further, giving rise to a new work of high ambition, cinematic appeal, and lavishly malign atmospheres.

Grandiose and highly expressive, this is music layered with a depth and substance that’s baked through the music’s substrate. Through an applied mixture of blackened aggression and infernal grandeur, Krystl-Ah takes the listener on a journey into occult worlds that bleed with passionate malevolence and weep with emotive blessings.

These soundscapes are vast and evocative. There’s great beauty to be had across the album, to which the choirs and epic songwriting in general contribute to greatly. Mephorash do well to build and sustain immersive atmospheres that feel almost tangible. However, they also remember to include the venomous bite of black metal when it’s needed; while certainly not the focus of the album, it’s there at key moments. Krystl-Ah is a richly atmospheric and sophisticated work of black metal art, but isn’t afraid to get its claws bloody when it needs to.

Krystl-Ah is a monumental record to take in and absorb gradually over time. On first exposure it’s clearly an accomplished work, but it is repeat exposure to its occult mastery that allows it to get under your skin, revealing its true majesty.

Very highly recommended.